One thing about Van Damme that disappoints me...

For all of the influence he had on the action genre in the west, Van Damme is not actively keeping his standard of action alive by graduating to stunt coordination. I'm not suggesting that Jean-Claude drop his acting career and permanently retreat behind the camera, but he's doubtlessly got a lot of experience that is not being utilized in anyone's features but his own. I often read complaints about how films have become SFX-driven and feature less "authentic" action scenes, and one of the reasons behind this seems to be that the old guard have failed in passing along their influence.

To be certain, Van Damme is not the only star of his era guilty of this. It's largely true all the way down to the direct-to-video stars like Jeff Wincott. However, I point out Jean-Claude' failure due to his status as the industry leader: if he - as the most successful martial arts star of the western hemisphere of the 90s - does not make the effort to keep his craft alive, why should anyone else?